Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1887-06-09
Le.t yer fro last week.
Euniay IL the Penitsntiary

sonheimer, and Boone, we yielded to
an invitation to attend chapel SER
vice in the penitentiary, last Sunday,
at O'Clock p. m. We went in ad-
vance of tue time and saw the con-
victs coming out of their cells,
marching in single file to the spacious
dining hall, where dinner Of roast
beef, beans, soup, light-b and
potatoes was served, which was par
taken of with seeming good relish.
The prisoners countenances wore q
pleasant smile, though not word
was uttered by any Of them. They
are as silent as the dead, made so by
rule of the prison, the wisdom of
which is very manifest. So far as
we know, the prisoners are never
permitted to talk to each other, ex-
cept while in their cells, of which
we examined quite number, and
found them neatly kept. Four con-
victs occupied each of the cells that
we examined. The beds were clean
in all, and in some of them there
was good taste exhibited in the ar
rangement of the furniture, books
and other articles allowed in the
prison.
Some of the convicts show a de-
gree of skill in the manufacture of
trinkets that is surprising. They
are encouraged by the officers to ex-
ercise their talent in the art line, and
are given the proceeds of their la
bor. They get no tune for this sort
of work until they meet the days
demands in the prison. Sometimes
the prison hours for labor are short
ened by the completion of tasks,
when the convicts are paid for extra
labor, or are permitted to work at
trinket making IN their cells.
1t was an interesting, yet sad
sight to us, as we looked upon this
small army of men, mostly young
men, file out of the prison walls and
take up their silent march to the
dining hall. While eating, the strict
est regulations are observed. The
superintendent of each force In the
shops or on the yards, is required to
go along with his men, and take cog
nlzance of their behavior at the ta-
BILE or in the chapel, and all irregu-
IarItles are faithfully reported to the
deputy warden, who settles the ac-
count with the accused. As rule,
the convicts present healthy ap-
pearance.
Dinner being over, the visitors
were invited to the chapel in advance
of the convicts. There are two en-
frances to the chapel, through
which the convicts. 1900 strong, en-
tered, one at time In about ten
minutes after the first one entered
they were all comfortably seated,
and the prison choir opened their
voluntary, and sang very creditably.
They have an organ and nine sing
ers. the choir does all the singing,
for the reason, we learned, that il
all were permitted TO sing, some
would take advantage of the noise to
break rules and make trouble. The
choir is given sufficient time, two
evenings each week, to practice their
hymns for Sunday. We thought if
the pulpit had been located on the
side of the chapel, instead of at one
end, all could have had better
chance to hear the preacher. We
were located at the farther end from
the pulpit. and could hear only by
paying the closest attention. The
words came to us with kind of roll
ing sound, that sometimes rolled by
US, without being caught.
The chaplain, the Right Rev. Gier-
low, of the Epis scopal church, is an
old gentleman of considerable ablli-
ty, who writes his sermons, but does
not make it unpleasant to his audi
ence by frequently turning to his
manuscript. His theme was Life, -
at the Sunday evening service. There
was degree Of profundity in the
discourse that seemed to US would
overshoot an average audience, out
side the penitentiary, but it may be
best suited to the wants of the con-
vets, we can't tell as to that. Wheth-
er the convicts paid good attention,
we do not know, but we can say this
for them, we never saw more quiet
audience in our lives. The only dis
turbance we noticed vas very
slight, and was oecasfoned by one of
the guards, who had eaten too many
onions for dinner, going to sleep, ne
cessitating one of the officers to
punch him In the RIBS few times to
awaken him.
Our presence at chapel service
gave us better opportunity to see
the convicts in body than we had
ever before had. We reached the
following conclusionA There are
more young men here than we sup
pnsed IrDon inquiry we learned tho